What is flagging? How can I flag a post/comment for the moderators to look at?

Members have the ability to flag posts and comments for a variety of reasons. Flags alert the mods to problem posts and comments, and indicate the level of severity of a problem post.

To flag something, click the [!] link by the post or comment.

When you flag something, the flag goes into a queue read by the mods. All flag reasons go into the same queue, so don't get stressed about the exact reason for flagging. If you think your reason for flagging will be hard to understand (for example a non-obvious problem with a link) you can use the contact form to explain.

Moderators will look at every flagged item, but not every flag will result in obvious action. Even those flags can be helpful, though, for example putting a contentious discussion on the mod's radar, or allowing the mod to email someone behind the scenes.

There is no need to flag 20 comments in a thread, because a moderator will read the thread when checking out the first few flags; please flag only the most important. Flags are generally used for current comments and threads, so flagging old posts and comments doesn't usually result in any action. Here is a good summary of when to consider using the flag feature.

FIAMO stands for "flag it and move on" and is a good first step with problematic posts or comments.

Are flags anonymous?

The reason I want to flag something isn't listed, what should I do?

We encourage people to use the flagging feature. At the same time, the list of reasons isn't supposed to be an all-inclusive list of when you should [and shouldn't] flag things. Flagging something means you are bringing it to the mod team's attention. We interpret the flags in a few very basic ways.

If none of these seem to fit, please feel free to just flag something as other or drop us a note via the Contact Form and let us know what's up.(tags: flaggingflags ) July 5, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

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